What I Want Is What I've Got
by Miss Higher Power
Summary: This thing with him and Rachel is still sorta new. So he's kinda not looking forward to Valentine's Day  like at all . Written for the puckrachel drabble meme on LJ.


This thing with him and Rachel is still sorta new. So he's kinda not looking forward to Valentine's Day (like at all). Girls always get totally batshit about it. And it's not like he doesn't like Rachel, 'cause he does, a lot. It's just he'd rather stab himself in the eye than talk about feelings and do all that girly, romantic shit that girls want on Valentine's Day. Leave it to Finn to totally screw him over.

Really, the whole thing is Finn's damn fault.

See, right before the Christmas Dance Rachel found out about Santana popping Finn's cherry and they had this huge ass fight and broke up. Leaving Rachel without a date to the dance. She already had her dress, and it seemed like a fuckin' waste of her dads' money for her not to wear it. Besides, what good Jew would make another Jew go to a Christian dance alone? That shit ain't kosher.

And he actually had a good time. He fuckin' hates dances. They play lame music, and serve crap food and there's no booze. But once Rachel lets loose, she's actually kinda awesome. So, yeah, he had a good time.

And he'd kinda thought that she was gonna get all, like, clingy. But she didn't. She basically thanked him for going with her and then didn't talk to him again 'til school went back in January. And it totally sucked ass.

So when he asked her out, she'd looked legit shocked. Like she thought he was up to something.

So, yeah, they're, like, a thing now, or whatever.

The minute that Schue gave them this stupid assignment he knew that something bad was gonna happen. And he should totally listen to his gut. Like with that stupid Run Joey Run video.

Schue wanted them to sing a song that was emotionally driven.

He just knew that Rachel was gonna see Artie singing about how birds suddenly appear every time Tina's near and she was gonna want him to sing something all romantic or some shit to her. Hell, no. That ain't happening. To make everything worse, he actually had to present his damn project on Valentine's Day. What kinda horseshit is that?

After that bullshit at the beginning of the year where he almost got kicked out of glee for "lack of effort", he actually has to do the assignment and not just fuck around, 'cause he actually likes glee. It's kinda nice to belong to something where people actually give a fuck about what he thinks. But picking a song is a total minefield. He can't sing anything that involves love, 'cause then Rachel is gonna think he's like telling her he loves her (and he might but he's sure as shit not ready to tell her yet).

He and Rachel go through hundreds of songs on all the websites she bookmarks and visits on a freakishly regular basis. Rachel picks "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Evita, and nearly kills him when she sings the line anyone can hurt me and they do, 'cause he knows that it's true.

He's pretty much decided on a Daughtry song. He wants to make a couple changes but other than that it's ready, and it's gonna be fuckin' awesome.

Half the club is presenting on Friday at lunch and the other half is presenting on Monday after school. Rachel's on Friday and he's on Monday. Finn is also on Friday.

His girl totally rocks it. She does such a fuckin' awesome job that even Kurt has something nice to say about it, and that guy wouldn't know nice if it bit him in the ass. As soon as she's finished, she comes to sit next to him. He gives her kiss on the cheek and holds her hand.

Finn is up right after Rachel. Finn, the shit-disturbing bastard, decides to sing Phil Collins' "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away".

It was one thing when he got all creepy and sang "Jessie's Girl" to her. It totally embarrassed her, but she was on the edge of breaking up with that douchebag anyway. She is not on the verge of breaking up with him.

Rachel's pretty much shrinking into her seat. She keeps trying to pull her hand from his, but he just keeps holding on tighter and giving Finn the evilest fucking glare he can manage.

When Finn finishes singing, Rachel's face is a shade of red he's never seen before, and he's said some stuff to her that would make Bob Saget blush. Plus, she looks like she might cry, which is not cool.

"Noah, I don't know what has gotten into Finn. I promise you I have not done anything that would give him any indication that I could in any way possibly still be interested in him. That door has been shut firmly and completely. I just..."

"S'cool, babe. Finn's just being a jackass. I'll sort it out."

"Please promise me you won't do anything rash or impulsive like start a fight, Noah." He grumbles a bit, but agrees.

On Fridays he hangs around after school until Rachel is finished with her dance class and then he gives her a ride to one of their houses for dinner. So when he sees Finn in the parking lot, he decides now is the time to set things straight.

"Yo, Hudson. What the fuck are you trying to pull?" He asks as he approaches him across the lot, his bag slung over one shoulder. Finn just shrugs.

"I'm just letting Rachel know I'm sorry, and I'm showing her she has options."

"You had your chance with her. You had your chance with her and you blew it! And now is my chance and I am not going to blow it because WE are meant for each other. So just back the fuck off!"

"You're meant for each other? You're just with her 'cause she's an easy mark. You're gonna find the quickest way into her pants and then you're gonna ditch her, 'cause that's what you do." It's a low blow and the minute Finn says it, he wants to punch him in his stupid, dopey face. But he promised Rachel and he doesn't break promises to Rachel. So he just walks away.

He decides he's gonna fight fire with fuckin' fire. He decides to spend the weekend working on finding the perfect song. He can't make Finn back off, but he can make Rachel happy, and as long as she's happy with him, nothing else matters.

Rachel's got some vocal workshop to go to this weekend, so he was just gonna be hangin' with Artie. Things got a little awkward after the whole Finn and Rachel break up, and to be honest Artie and Mike still aren't on the best of terms since the whole Cohen-Chang Chang thing. So Artie totally understands when he blows him off.

He works all day Saturday on finding the right song. He decides on a song by a Canadian band that Rachel loves (who knew those fuckers up north had all this great music that he didn't know about). He spends all day Sunday working on the arrangement. When he plays it for his mom (shut up, this shit has to be perfect and his mom fuckin' loves Rachel so she's not gonna lie), she legit cries.

"My baby's fallen in love with a good Jewish girl."

"Fuck, Ma! We're not gettin' married or anything."

"Yet. And watch your mouth, young man."

When he gets up to do his number (dead last), he makes sure there's no doubt about who he's singing this song for.

"Uh, this is for Rachel, who's, uh, makin' my day and givin' me reason to smile."

When he finishes his song, glee is over and everyone heads out as he puts his guitar away. Everyone except Rachel.

"You learned a Hedley song for me." She says quietly.

"S'an awesome song. Plus that dude's a total BAMF." That makes Rachel giggle so he feels pretty fuckin' good about himself.

"It was an excellent performance, Noah. You should be proud." He totally is, but he's more proud of the fact that he's got this awesome girl standing here and he's not looking for a way to cut and run. Fuck you, Hudson.

Rachel grabs his hand and starts heading for the door, but he tugs her back. She's looking at him with her big brown eyes and it's doing funny things to his insides.

"I meant it, y'know. I'm building this to last a long time."

"I know. It's why I'm going home with you right now, not Finn."

God, he definitely loves this girl. Maybe Valentine's Day doesn't suck as much as he thought.

* * *

Author's Note: The song that Puck sings is Shelter by Hedley.


End file.
